Chapter 16: every tradition · Christianity
Moravian Church in America
A congregation of the Moravian Church in America (Unitas Fratrum), renewed at Herrnhut in 1727 from the Bohemian Brethren of 1457: Sunday worship from the printed liturgies of the Moravian Book of Worship with organ, choir, and hymns, and trombone choirs and brass bands at the festivals. Infants are baptized, usually by sprinkling, and confirm their covenant as youth; Holy Communion, six to eight times a year, is served in the pews, all partaking together, with the right hand of fellowship. The lovefeast, with sweet buns and coffee passed by dieners while the congregation sings, the Christmas Eve candle service under the Moravian star, and the Easter sunrise service in God's Acre are its own. The province governs strongly: its Provincial Elders' Conference calls pastors, collects the Provincial Share, and can take over or dissolve a congregation and its assets. Members live by the Moravian Covenant for Christian Living. A congregation is in the Northern Province or the Southern.
All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it; How people feel, what every factor is.
At a glance
| Faith | Christianity |
|---|---|
| Its words | congregation, church, sanctuary; the pastor leads the service; the sermon; Sunday; the Bible |
| Worship | word focus, reserved, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on pews |
| Music | organ expected; choir expected; brass expected; chant discouraged; recorded discouraged |
| The room's sound | likes a ringing room (organ and choir) |
| Its year | western, moravian; full observance; fasts none |
| Leans | liberal on moral questions, neutral on economic ones |
| Polity | provincial; leaders come by regional call; property trust |
| Leaders | one leader, full time, trained by seminary; marriage any |
| Belonging | moderate commitment, pastoral discipline, admitted by board |
| Giving | tithing not emphasised; collected by pledges, plate, online; also rentals |
| Way of life | alcohol moderation, dress casual, sabbath observed |
The week's services
| Day | Time | Service | Led by | People look for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 11:00 am | Moravian liturgy | the pastor | expected |
- Leader: a pastor. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply pastor stands in ($800 a month) for a little less.
- Communion (7 times a year), passed among the people: nothing needs to be placed to serve it. People receive from age 13; anyone younger who comes forward is blessed instead.
- Baptism: needs a font, a baptistry, or an immersion font, built and installed; until there is one, those wanting baptism wait.
- Lay helpers at each service: Expected: 2 communion servers (at communion).
Rites
- Confirmation (quarterly, +0.025 to those there): After a season of classes, young people (and adults) are confirmed: they affirm the faith they were baptized into, and the bishop or pastor lays hands on them and prays for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Love Feast (quarterly, +0.03 to those there): A simple shared meal of fellowship, after the early church's agape: Methodists share bread and water; Moravian servers pass out sweet buns and coffee while the congregation sings; the Brethren join self-examination, feet washing, a meal and the bread and cup.
- Christmas Eve Candle Service (yearly, +0.035 to those there): Each worshipper is given a beeswax candle trimmed with a red paper frill, lit in the darkened church beneath the Moravian star while all sing "Morning Star, O Cheering Sight." It is often held with a lovefeast.
- Easter Sunrise Service (yearly, +0.035 to those there): Before dawn on Easter the liturgy begins at the church, and the congregation processes to God's Acre, the graveyard, proclaiming the resurrection as brass bands play and the sun rises.
- Watch Night (yearly, +0.03 to those there): On New Year's Eve the congregation gathers to pray, sing and testify, and to see the new year in on their knees at midnight. In Black churches it also remembers Freedom's Eve, December 31, 1862.
- Right Hand of Fellowship (per joining, +0.015 to those there): New members are welcomed at the front, and the pastor and deacons, and often the whole congregation, give them the right hand of fellowship.
- Congregation Anniversary (yearly, +0.025 to those there): The congregation celebrates the anniversary of its founding with special music, a guest preacher, and the story of the congregation's beginnings.
Baptism, confirmation, and joining
- Baptized elsewhere: it recognizes any baptism in the name of the Trinity. Someone so baptized is received at a service after about 4 weeks (a week from another of its churches).
- Not baptized (or baptized where it doesn't recognize it): a candidate who prepares for 3 months (only months its class can meet count), then is baptized and received at the same service.
- Joining age: 16.
- The church's children are baptized as babies, and are baptized members, without a vote until confirmed.
- Confirmation: from about 13, a class of 9 months (in a classroom or an office, led by the pastor or a sunday school teacher) prepares them, and the rite makes them full members at 13 or so. It's held only when there are candidates.
- Kinds of belonging: communicant members (votes, may hold office); baptized members; received by its board.
- What it means: being baptized, confirmed, or received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home each Christmas Eve and Easter for ten years.
Giving, and what goes up
How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.
- How it's given: the offering, by pledges, a plate passed at each main service, and giving online. A visiting household puts $5 to $25 in the plate. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
- Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
- Pledges: a pledge drive each November for the year to come: a household with a member pledges with a chance of 0.9 × its engagement (a household of regulars, 0.3), about three quarters of what it could give, paid monthly from January and falling behind as it grows unhappy.
- Renting space: its congregations are known for it, so tenants pay 15% more.
- Fundraisers: only the modest ones (below).
- Owed above: Provincial Share, 8% of what it takes in, to the Northern Province; not kept, it costs the wider body's regard.
The pastor, the staff, and who decides
- How the pastor comes: sent by the District, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
- Paid: full time; housed or given an allowance, as you set.
- Who they are: trained at seminary; women among them (about a third); most married.
- Tenure: settled for about 7 years, then may be called elsewhere; an interim serves through the search.
- Ranks: Deacon, Presbyter; a candidate holds one by skill, and rises with the years.
- Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational pastor ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Pastor ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate pastor ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Choir director / organist / pianist ($15,000–$35,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Congregation secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Its boards: the board of elders (deciding, over calls and the spiritual life); the board of trustees (deciding, over the building); the joint board (deciding, over everything).
- Renovations: The board of trustees votes.
- New construction: The members vote, then the District must consent.
- Who votes: communicant members, 16 and over.
Life together
What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.
- Ministries of its own: Choir.
- Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
- Fundraisers of its own: Soup supper.
- Shared fundraisers it may hold (only the modest ones): Bake sale, Car wash, Raffle, Rummage sale.
- Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Another congregation, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Polling place and forums, Wedding receptions.
- Outreach: invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
- Places beyond the congregation: the province's camp.
- Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A petition for cushions, The bells, again.
- Dilemmas its code of life brings: A candidates' forum, A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.
What the building needs
- required Communion tableThe Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper.
- required Baptismal fontInfant baptism by pouring needs a baptismal font, traditionally near the entrance as a sign that baptism is entry into the church.
- required PulpitPreaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
- required sacristyVestments, sacred vessels, and paraments are kept and prepared in a sacristy.
- expected Brass band standsBrass bands lead the singing on the walk to God's Acre. A brass band leads the singing.
- expected Choir stallsA choir leads the singing and needs a place to stand or sit together.
- expected Christmas Eve candlesEvery worshipper holds a lit beeswax candle.
- expected Communion traysThe bread and cup are carried to the pews in trays and passed along the rows.
- expected Pipe organThe congregation expects hymns led by an organ.
- expected fellowship hallTables are set for the meal in the fellowship hall.
- expected kitchenThe food and coffee are prepared in the kitchen.
- discouraged CrucifixThis tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
- discouraged Flaming chaliceThe flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
- discouraged IconIcons are not part of this tradition's worship.
- discouraged StatueStatues are not part of this tradition's worship space.
What people here feel
- Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
- Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
- Acoustics: it wants a ringing room, about 3.4 seconds of reverberation: stone, plaster, a high ceiling. Up to ±0.05.
- Seasonal decor: it keeps the church year: paraments and the season's decor are worth up to ±0.027.
- Solar panels: leaning liberal, it's glad of them (+0.02 at every service).
- The sermon lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the pastor's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
- Communion: each communion service runs longer; a slow one costs 0.05 for every 10 minutes the service runs over (0.2 at most).
How each sermon lands
The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.
- Racial Justice & Reconciliation+0.06
- Radical Inclusion+0.06
- Interfaith Understanding+0.04
- Reading Scripture in Context+0.04
- Swords into Ploughshares+0.04
- The Prophets' Call+0.04
- Women Who Led+0.04
- Biblical Stories+0.015
- Blessed Are the Peacemakers+0.015
- Called by Name+0.015
- Doubt & Faith+0.015
- Eternal Life & Resurrection+0.015
- Grace & Forgiveness+0.015
- Gratitude+0.015
- Hope & Comfort+0.015
- Joy in All Things+0.015
- Love One Another+0.015
- Sabbath Rest+0.015
- Saints & Witnesses+0.015
- Servant Leadership+0.015
- Songs of the Psalms+0.015
- Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
- The Church Year+0.015
- The Life of Prayer+0.015
- The Parables of Jesus+0.015
- Care for Creation-0.02
- Healing for All-0.02
- Wealth & Poverty-0.02
- Welcome the Stranger-0.02
- Social Justice Call-0.03
- Faith & Family-0.05
- Faith of Our Fathers-0.05
- Obedience & Discipline-0.05
- Personal Holiness-0.05
- Resisting Temptation-0.05
- Spiritual Warfare-0.05
- The Authority of Scripture-0.05
- The Great Commission-0.05
- Marriage as God Designed-0.075
- Sanctity of Life-0.075
- The Last Days-0.075
- Fire & Brimstone-0.1
Every item, for this tradition
Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.
| Item | Fit | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Seating | ||
| Box pew | +0.333 | |
| Choir stalls | +0.667 | expected A choir leads the singing and needs a place to stand or sit together. |
| Meeting bench | no fit | |
| Oak pew | no fit | |
| Row of chairs | 0 | |
| Liturgical furniture | ||
| Altar | +0.333 | |
| Baptismal font | +0.333 | required Infant baptism by pouring needs a baptismal font, traditionally near the entrance as a sign that baptism is entry into the church. |
| Baptistry | no fit | |
| Bishop's chair | +0.333 | |
| Brass eagle lectern | +0.333 | |
| Columbarium niches | +0.333 | |
| Communion rail | +0.333 | |
| Communion station | no fit | |
| Communion table | no fit | required The Lord's Supper is served from a communion table, recalling the table of the Last Supper. |
| Communion trays | no fit | expected The bread and cup are carried to the pews in trays and passed along the rows. |
| Confessional screen | no fit | |
| Coptic cross | 0 | |
| Epitaphios | -1 | |
| Flaming chalice | -1 | discouraged The flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol. |
| Foot-washing basins | no fit | |
| Haikal screen | -1 | |
| Iconostasis | -1 | |
| Immersion font | +0.333 | |
| Lectern | no fit | |
| Litany desk | +0.333 | |
| Mercy seat | no fit | |
| Octagonal stone font | +0.333 | |
| Paraments | no fit | |
| Pulpit | no fit | required Preaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform. |
| Readers' desks | no fit | |
| Rood screen | -1 | |
| Sanctuary lamp | +0.333 | |
| Tabernacle | +0.333 | |
| Three-bar cross | 0 | |
| Thurible and stand | no fit | |
| Music | ||
| Brass band stands | +1 | expected Brass bands lead the singing on the walk to God's Acre. |
| Chanter's stand | -0.333 | |
| Drum kit | 0 | |
| Electronic organ | +1 | |
| Grand piano | 0 | |
| Hammond organ | 0 | |
| Handbell table | 0 | |
| Pipe organ | +0.667 | expected The congregation expects hymns led by an organ. |
| Sound system | 0 | |
| Upright piano | 0 | |
| Decor | ||
| Advent wreath | no fit | |
| Banner | 0 | |
| Christmas Eve candles | no fit | expected Every worshipper holds a lit beeswax candle. |
| Cross | 0 | |
| Crucifix | -1 | discouraged This tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix. |
| Easter lilies | no fit | |
| Eternal flame | no fit | |
| Flag of the church | 0 | |
| Great dome | +0.333 | |
| Icon | -1 | discouraged Icons are not part of this tradition's worship. |
| Memorial plaque | no fit | |
| National flag | 0 | |
| Painting of Christ | 0 | |
| Paschal candle | no fit | |
| Plain spire | no fit | |
| Small dome | no fit | |
| Stained glass window | +0.333 | |
| Statue | -1 | discouraged Statues are not part of this tradition's worship space. |
| Steeple and bells | +0.333 | |
| Votive candle stand | no fit | |
| Furnishings | ||
| Alms box | no fit | |
| Coffee pot | no fit | |
| Commercial coffee pot | no fit | |
| Computer | no fit | |
| Crib | no fit | |
| Desk | no fit | |
| Desk chair | no fit | |
| Folding table | no fit | |
| Full-length mirror | no fit | |
| Pillar | +0.333 | |
| Prie-dieu | +0.333 | |
| Projection screen | 0 | |
| Vestment cabinet | +0.333 | |
| Wooden table | no fit | |
| Utility | ||
| A/V rack | no fit | |
| Camera | no fit | |
| Cast-iron boiler | no fit | |
| Central air conditioner | no fit | |
| Commercial HVAC plant | no fit | |
| Commercial stove | no fit | |
| Congregation van | no fit | |
| Ductless heat pump | no fit | |
| Electric wall heater | no fit | |
| Gas furnace | no fit | |
| Hearing loop | no fit | |
| Lift | no fit | |
| Packaged heat pump | no fit | |
| Plumbing stack | no fit | |
| Ramp | no fit | |
| Shuttle bus | no fit | |
| Sink | no fit | |
| Solar panels | no fit | |
| Stairs | no fit | |
| Toilet | no fit | |
| Used school bus | no fit | |
| Wall camera | no fit | |
| Window air conditioner | no fit | |
| Grounds | ||
| Evergreen tree | no fit | |
| Flower bed | no fit | |
| Fountain | no fit | |
| Garden bench | no fit | |
| Hedge | no fit | |
| Lychgate | +0.333 | |
| Playground | no fit | |
| Shade tree | no fit | |
| Standing cross | no fit | |
Variants
Chosen when you found the congregation:
- Southern Province
Sources
- Moravian Church in America, The Moravian Church: Our Faith, Our History and Our Ministry (link)
- Home Moravian Church, Who We Are (link)
- Moravian Covenant for Christian Living (link)
- Moravian Church in America, The Observance of the Lord's Supper (link)
- Moravian Church in America, The History of the Lovefeast (link)
- Southern Province 2026 Synod Resolution 28, with the PEC's policy on vitality, governance, intervention, and dissolution (link)
- Religion News Service, Moravians in 13 states vote to ordain gay clergy (2014) (link)
- Q Notes, Southern Moravians approve marriage for gay clergy members (2018) (link)